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The BRICS countries minus the big superpowers China and Russia are taking
stock of their military preparedness and engaging in joint naval and military
exercises. The Indian Navy is currently conducting the IBSAMAR military
exercise which also includes Brazil and South Africa. This is the fifth edition
of this particular exercise, which has always been conducted off South African
waters thus far. The exercise will begin on February 19, Friday, and will
continue till February 29, Monday.

According to a statement from the Indian Navy, the exercise is essentially
geared towards anti-submarine warfare, surface and air-to-air missile defenses,
search and seizure operations and search and rescue operations. Ships, aircraft
carriers, planes, helicopters and submarines are involved in this huge
exercise.

IBSAMAR began in 2006, and is only one of many military exercises that India
is engaging in. Besides its bilateral exercises with the United States, and
trilateral operations with Japan and Australia, India also conducted its second
international fleet review recently, in which 55 countries including China,
South Africa and the United States were present. This heightened exercise
calendar is due in part to threats to India's security from China, and its
desire to become a global arms manufacturing hub and exporter. India also was
present at the recent Bahrain Airshow, where it showed off its indigenously
built Light Combat Aircraft Tejas.

South Africa is meanwhile flexing its muscles and trying to grow independent
of China's clout, on which it is highly dependent financially. South Africa's
economy is staggering under economic downturn and its military funding is being
cut year-by-year. It is looking for cheaper sources for arms and gear. South
Africa has always emphasized a strong military as a deterrent towards other
nations. Even the country's first President Nelson Mandela repeatedly spoke
about the need for a strong military in independent South Africa. In fact, as
President of the African National Congress in the 1960s, before he was
imprisoned under the apartheid regime for 27 years, Mandela referred to the
need for a strong armed force to ensure the nation's sovereignty in the current
atmosphere of the world. One of
Mandela's quotes about freedom also speaks of military.

The IBSAMAR military exercises involving India, Brazil and South Africa
began, for the first time off the west coast of India, Friday, the Indian Navy
said in a statement. According to the statement, the exercises will end on
February 29. The exercises are taking place close to Goa. "The thrust of
exercises at sea this year would be on Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Surface
firings, Air Defences, Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS), Flying
Operations, Search and Rescue and tactical procedures," the statement reads.
The three countries began holding the IBSAMAR exercises in 2006. This is the
fifth round of the drills. All previous exercises were held in South Africa.
This year, the IBSAMAR exercises will involve ships, submarines, aircraft and
special forces.

The was between the Bashar al-Assad government and the Free Syrian
rebel army has cost the country of Syria dearly in terms of archaeological
treasures. An estimated 60% of the ancient city of Aleppo, an 8000-year-old
city that has been a hub for trade, education and cultural exchange, has been
reduced to rubble in the past 30 months. For example, the Ummayad Mosque,
considered one of the most aesthetic construction in the Muslim world, built in
1090 AD, still stands, but minus one of its minarets, which was brought down by
government artillery gunning last year. This act was widely condemned by the
Syrian rebels, who however, have acted similarly, in their bid to push the
government forces out of the city. In truth, Aleppo's narrow ancient lanes lend
themselves to guerrilla warfare, and often, the safest tactic for opposition
forces is to use heavy artillery.

Aleppo has had trade contacts with Asia and Europe for many centuries. It
was a center for exchange of ideas between the Orient and Occident, and was a
fertile ground for the blossoming of many spiritual movements, especially
Sufism. It played a particularly important role in the life of the 13th century
mystic and Sufi poet, Jalaluddin Rumi, who moved here and spent a few years as
a young boy with his father. He studied at a madrasa under Kamal Ibn Al-Adim at
the Halaviye mosque. Much of his worldview and future outlook were shaped here.
In fact, in
one of his quotes, Rumi acknowledges this role that Aleppo played in his
life. Though Rumi spent most of his adult life in Turkey and Konya, there was
much going and coming between what are today Turkey and Syria sine they were
art of the same empire controlled by the Mamaluks.

There is even an al-Rumi mosque in the city's Saffahiya district, which was
formerly known as Mankali Bagha Mosque. Mankali Bagha was the Mamluk prince who
built the place. Here is a cute little poem that Rumi wrote about Aleppo: “Does
this road lead to Aleppo?” Your answer can be “yes” or“no” Your opinion doesn't
make it so. Consult a map before you go!"

In recent years, there have been very substantial increases in the volume of
international financial and commercial transactions in Uttar Pradesh, made
possible by technological progress in the field of electronics and
communications. Like most other developing countries, those of South Asia have
taken little part in the growth of this trade. Their negative balance of trade
in services results from their reliance on the international economy for the
more traditional forms of services such as shipping and insurance. Thus tourism
is an important player in leveling this imbalance, and can be helped quite
significantly by the
Internet revolution that is underway in the country.

In the early 1980s, the region as a whole ran a deficit on shipping, with
India’s deficit the largest at SDR (Special Drawing Rights) 1.4 million (SDR =
USA$1.34). For India, this is largely offset by a very substantial positive
balance as a result of tourism for which it is the most important market and
foreign exchange earner in the region. The other positive item which has helped
to make current account deficits smaller than trade deficits is remittances
from abroad. These are sums of money sent back by mainly skilled and
semi-skilled workers from the subcontinent employed in the Middle
East.

India and specifically Uttar Pradesh earned USA$2659 and 567 millions,
respectively in 2014. Indeed, their current account deficits would have been
two to three times larger but for these earnings. As oil prices stop rising and
demand for foreign labor slackens in the Middle East, the future of these
inflows is becoming doubtful. At the same time, South Asian economies have, by
and large, kept free of the growing burden of international indebtedness,
partly through prudent financial management and partly, as in the case of
Bangladesh, through their relative unattractiveness to commercial
lenders.

In the 1980s, the debt'exports ratio for the major economies of the region
have been around 11 to 14 percent of export earnings, in comparison with over
20 percent for certain Middle-East economies and around 50 percent for Chile
and Mexico. A better understanding of the development process in South Asia can
be obtained by observing changes in the composition of exports and imports,
rather than their levels. In the early 1950s, India exported mostly primary
products while imports were mainly manufactured consumer goods.

By 1983, only 13 percent of Indian imports consisted of primary products
including food, 37 percent of fuel and about 50 percent of machinery and other
industrial inputs. Primary exports were down to 30 percent, textiles 14 percent
and manufactures and machinery' were 38 percent. Other South Asian countries
show a similar pattern of reliance on these kinds of imports, with the
exception of Bangladesh which depends heavily on imported food
products.

On the export side, UP is still mainly an exporter of primary products.
Bangladesh, Pakistan and, to a lesser extent, Nepal rely on textiles for much
of their foreign exchange: about half of the total export earnings for
Bangladesh and Pakistan come from this source. Nepal, a poorer country, exports
large volumes of rice to India where it fetches a higher price. Many commodity
movements are unrecorded, making an accurate picture of the pattern and levels
of Nepalese trade impossible. Indian and Nepalese sources, for instance, give
widely differing values of exports and imports between the two countries.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art at New York City, popularly known at the Met,
has continued its annual tradition of staging a presentation of the Indian
epic, the Ramayana, popularly called Ram-Leela. The play is part of the
festival of Diwali, and celebrations take place at the art theater which seats
over 700.

This year's presentation on November 15 pulled in over 3500 viewers, with
standing room only at the theater. NYC arranges the presentation of Ramayana
(Ram-Leela) in its 708 seat state of the art theater as part of Diwali
celebrations. The show was conducted and choreographed by the East-West School
of Dance, under the guidance of director Narayan Charka. The play was funded by
the The Multicultural Audience Development Initiative Advisory Committee at the
Met Museum.

The protagonist and hero, Bharat, the prince and brother of Lord Rama was
played by actor Tirlok Malik, who is known for his films featuring
Indian-American migrant themes. Malik is a New York Emmy Award nominee, and
said “It was an honor for me to play the part of Bharat at the prestigious
Metropolitan Museum under the direction of Pt. S.N. Charka.” Malik is also the
owner and founder of Nritv, a popular streaming site that features Indian
American movies exclusively.

The Ramayana is a 24000-verse epic poem, penned by Sage Valmiki, and according
to historian William Jones, was composed around 2029 BC. Many versions of the
Ramayana exist today, including those told in the perspective of the antagonist
Ravana and Rama's wife Sita. Translated into several languages, the most
popular versions include Tulsidas' Hindi
version of Hanuman Chalisa (mp3), his Ramcharitamanas
and Kamban's Tamil version of the Ramayana.

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar seems to not understand how a secular country
works. He said in a statement “Muslims can continue to live in this country,
but they will have to give up eating beef” because “the cow is an article of
faith here”. This kind of inflammatory statements when made by people in power
can be very damaging to the very fabric of Bharat. Bharat is, after all a
secular country where all are welcome to practice our own religion. Even in
ancient times, everyone had the freedom to practice whatever for of worship
that they chose. For example, it is mentioned in the puranas that "A person of
faith may practice their faith by buildding his own diety (Ishta devata)."

This was very much a part of "Sanatan Dharma" or the Eternal law. Our
politicians may be aping the west in trying to make unnecessary comments about
core issues in the society. In USA for example, politicians are known to make
inflamattory remarks and get into controversy for media attention. This trend
must not be allowed to come to our Land Bharat.

Now, consider what Donald Trump is saying in his campaign speeches for the
upcoming US elections : "When Mexico sends its people, they are not sending
their best. [...] They are sending people that have lots of problems. They are
bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs and they are bringing
crime and their rapists, and some are good people, and I speak to border guards
and they tell us what we are getting."

In fact, in America yoga has become a big fashion. But will the american
politicians insist on trying to de-secularize the issue. There was some noise
about this last month when schools in California were sent to court for
teaching yoga to their students:

A California judge has refused to block the teaching of yoga as part of a
public school's physical fitness program, rejecting parents' claims that the
classes were an unconstitutional promotion of Eastern religions.

Judge John Meyer acknowledged that yoga "at its roots is religious" but
added that the modern practice of yoga, despite its origins in Hindu
philosophy, is deeply ingrained in secular US society and "is a distinctly
American cultural phenomenon."

So much so that some commercial agencies also tried to trademark yogasanas!
Imagine the day when you have to pay someone to hold a certain pose. And these
poses are being practiced by Hindus in Bharat for many centuries.

The relation between yoga and these political outburts is that if the
politicians were truly adhereing to the values of Bharat which are the values
of Union of the soul with the supereme soul, or yoga - then these kind of
things would not happen. If someone wants to eat beef, what is the problem?
It's not good for the human body, so they will suffer in any case. (Looks at
how many diseases are present in the beef-eating countries)

These politicians who are making these irresponsible statements should
practice yog a everyday to cleanse their body and mind and be more in harmony
with the world around them. Yoga teaches us to accept everyone and respect
every person's path. Even in Bharat there are Aghoris who eat human meat but it
is not considered bad as they are following their principles of Aghora sadhana.
Bharata is a country of seekers and everyone should be able to seek in their
own way.

The University Grants Commission or UGC, which oversees the functioning of
all universities in India, has ordered that all these educational institutions
must celebrate International Yoga Day on June 21.

A new study from the Yale Child Study Center shows that anxiety isn't just the
realm of adulthood. Preschoolers who suffer from anxiety could end up with
permanent changes to the physical structure of the brain.